SparkNotes: Death in Venice: Characters Death in Venice Summary Chapter 1 Gustav von Aschenbach - An aging writer, honorable, fastidious, and repressed, of high public status in Germany. He travels to Venice and stays in a hotel where the beautiful boy Tadzio is also a guest. As he gives way to his repressed sexuality and falls in love with Tadzio while embracing beauty and the sensual side of art, he also abandons morality and dignity, abandoning himself to passion, decadence, and ultimately death. Tadzio - An intensely beautiful Polish boy of about fourteen. He stays with his mother, sisters, and governess at the same hotel in Venice as Gustav von Aschenbach. Tadzio is pure and innocent but also aware of Aschenbach's interest in him. Jashu - Tadzio's closest companion at the hotel. He seems to idolize Tadzio, acting as his "vassal." Jashu has glossy black hair, a sturdy build, and a rowdy temperament, serving as a polar opposite to Tadzio.

Der Tod in Venedig; Death in Venice - German Literature German Literature Der Tod in Venedig; Death in Venice Der Tod in Venedig; Death in Venice (1912) This novella, which bears comparison with Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, was written between July 1911 and July 1912, and published in 1912. It tells the story of a famous writer in his fifties who is overcome by an illegal passion for a fourteen year-old boy. Gustav von Aschenbach has been made a member of the nobility for his services to German letters, and extracts from his books are taught in schools. Aschenbach’s entire being has been dedicated to the pursuit of glory and fame (‘Ruhm’) and a morality of strict steadfastness (‘durchhalten’), but now he dedicates himself instead to the pursuit of Tadzio, a Polish adolescent whom he encounters whilst on holiday in Venice. The novella is full of references to classical mythology and philosophy, in particular to Plato’s Phaedrus and the Symposium.

Aschenbach tries to persuade himself that his feelings for Tadzio are Platonic, a form of disinterested aesthetic contemplation, but his wild dreams of tigers and swamps suggest a very different interpretation. Aschenbach is visibly relieved to cast off his lifelong habit of self-repression. Soon, stalking Tadzio around Venice takes precedence over self-preservation. Aschenbach is well aware that there is a cholera outbreak in Venice, but he stays and catches the disease. No sexual acts actually occur. Instead the novella delivers a compelling description of Aschenbach’s descent into obsession, as we witness his gradual moral and physical collapse. Aschenbach is a composite figure: he is partly a hypothetical version of Mann himself, who experienced comparable emotions whilst staying in Venice in May-June 1911; however Aschenbach also alludes to the aged Goethe ’s infatuation with the teenage Ulrike von Levetzow. Aschenbach’s first name and his appearance are drawn from the composer Gustav Mahler (in the Visconti film version, Aschenbach is a composer and not a writer).

According to Wolfgang Koeppen this is Thomas Mann’s best work, because of the pain of love which it communicates (see reading list below, p. 116). The mythological framework draws on Nietzsche’s Die Geburt der Tragödie; The Birth of Tragedy: Aschenbach is an Apollonian artist who descends into Dionysian excess. But the novella begins and ends with an image of Hermes: the final page describes Tadzio as the god Hermes in his role as psychagogue, leader of the souls of the dead through the underworld. This mythic framework gives the text a timeless aspect, although Todd Kontje argues convincingly that the novella exposes its own myth-making procedures (see Kontje, reading list below, p. 51). Der Tod in Venedig has a political dimension too: it begins by referring to a month-long threat to the entire European continent, and this suggests that Aschenbach’s personal crisis is linked to imperial tensions around 1912. As the narrator says in Chapter 2, if an artwork is capable of having a wide and deep effect, then there must be an intimate connection between the personal fate of the author and the general fate of the public.

If Aschenbach’s rejection of psychological insight has found favour with the establishment and the general public, then this implies that it is not only Aschenbach who has started to abandon his critical faculties, but German society in general. The atmosphere of the novella is indebted to the Venetian Sonnets of August von Platen . In Chapter 1, Gustav von Aschenbach is standing by tram stop opposite a cemetery in a suburb of Munich when he sees a red-haired stranger standing in the doorway of the chapel. He realises that the stranger is staring at him and he turns away. Suddenly Aschenbach feels the desire to travel, and he imagines a tropical swamp populated with tigers. In Chapter 2 there is a list of Aschenbach’s books, which are modelled on Thomas Mann’s own unfinished projects; there is a detailed description of Aschenbach as a writer, his ethos of self-control, his resemblance to Saint Sebastian (a homoerotic saint); his willed classicism; his role as a public authority.

In Chapter 3, on the boat to Venice, Aschenbach sees a group of young men, and he is shocked to realise that one of them is fake – he is old and wrinkled, with dyed hair and wearing make-up. Aschenbach takes a gondola and is disconcerted when the gondolier starts taking him directly to the Lido, instead of to the steam boat. Once the ride is over, Aschenbach goes off to look for change; when he returns the gondolier has disappeared, because the man had no licence to operate a gondola. Aschenbach enters the hotel and sees a long-haired boy of fourteen who is ‘perfectly beautiful’. The next day Aschenbach watches Tadzio on the beach. He feels feverish and realises that the climate, with its hot wind (scirocco) is bad for his health. He decides to leave the hotel and heads for the railway station, where he is relieved to discover that his baggage has been sent to Como by mistake – he cannot leave Venice after all. In Chapter 4, Aschenbach spends his mornings on the beach watching Tadzio.

He writes one and a half pages of prose which are modelled on Tadzio. He longs to speak to Tadzio but does not dare. Occasionally they gaze into each other’s eyes. One evening Aschenbach sees Tadzio on the hotel terrace; Tadzio smiles at Aschenbach, who hurries away and collapses on a bench, whispering ‘Ich liebe dich!’ In Chapter 5, official health warnings about gastric flu are posted, but the German press contains rumours that the infection is something worse. Aschenbach is glad that the Venetian authorities are denying these rumours because he would hate Tadzio and his family to leave. He follows Tadzio around Venice; that evening there is a musical performance on the hotel terrace. The next day a British travel agent tells Aschenbach that there has been an outbreak of cholera and advises him to leave Venice at once. Aschenbach considers warning Tadzio’s family but decides not to. That night he dreams of Dionysian revelry and the next day he has his hair dyed. Soon Aschenbach grows feverish and starts mumbling quotations from Plato’s Phaedrus.

The novella ends as Aschenbach expires in his chair whilst staring at Tadzio walking at the water's edge. Further Reading Alan Bance, ‘“Der Tod in Venedig” and the Triadic Structure’, Forum for Modern Language Studies 8 (1972), 148-61 Jeffrey B. Berlin (ed.), Approaches to Teaching Mann’s ‘Death in Venice’ and Other Short Fiction (New York: MLA, 1992) Elizabeth Boa, ‘Global Intimations: Cultural Geography in Buddenbrooks, Tonio Kröger, and Der Tod in Venedig’, Oxford German Studies 35 (2006), 21-33 Edward S. Brinkley, 'Fear of Form: Thomas Mann's Der Tod in Venedig', Monatshefte 91:1 (1999), 2-27 Dorrit Cohn, 'The Second Author of Der Tod in Venedig', in Probleme der Moderne: Studien zur deutschen Literatur von Nietzsche bis Brecht. Festschrift für Walter Sokel, ed. by Benjamin Bennett, Anton Kaes and William J.

Lillyman (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1983), pp. 223-45; reprinted in Critical Essays on Thomas Mann, ed. by Inta M. Ezergailis (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1988), pp. 124-43 André von Gronicka, ‘“Myth plus Psychology”: a style analysis of Death in Venice’, Germanic Review 31 (1956), 191-205 Todd Kontje, The Cambridge Introduction to Thomas Mann (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011) Heidi M. Rockwood and Robert J. R. Rockwood, ‘The Psychological Reality of Myth in Der Tod in Venedig’, Germanic Review 59 (1984), 137-41 T. J. Reed (ed.), Der Tod in Venedig (London and Bristol: Blackwell, 1996) T. J. Reed, Death in Venice: Making and Unmaking a Master (New York: Twayne, 1994) T. J.

Reed, ‘The Frustrated Poet: Homosexuality and Taboo in Der Tod in Venedig’, in Taboos in German Literature, ed. by David Jackson (Oxford and Providence, RI: Berghahn, 1996), pp. 119-34 Ritchie Robertson, ‘Classicism and its pitfalls: Death in Venice’, in The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Mann, ed. by Ritchie Robertson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 95-106 Richard Sheppard, ‘Tonio Kröger and Der Tod in Venedig: From Bourgeois Realism to Visionary Modernism’, Oxford German Studies 18-19 (1989-90), 92-108 Ellis Shookman, Thomas Mann's Death in Venice: A Novella and its Critics (New York: Camden House, 2003) Further Reading in German Wolfgang Koeppen , ‘Thomas Mann: Die Beschwörung der Liebe’, in Koeppen , Die elenden Skribenten.

Aufsätze (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1984), pp. 110-18 Project MUSE - Deaths in Venice: The Cases of Gustav von Aschenbach by Philip Kitcher (review) Gary Schmidt Deaths in Venice: The Cases of Gustav von Aschenbach. By Philip Kitcher. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Pp. 254. Cloth $30.00. ISBN 978-0231162647. Philip Kitcher’s volume, based on the Leonard Hastings Schoff Memorial Lectures that he delivered at Columbia University in 2009 and appearing in print 100 years after the original publication of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, follows a century of critical and scholarly writing on the novella, the powerful cascade of which hardly appears to be abating.

Kitcher undertakes the task of tilling the overtaxed soil in which parallels between the author and his protagonist have been examined, and he confronts the challenge by persuading the reader to see not just the demise, but also the life of Gustav Aschenbach through a new set of lenses. The study accomplishes its goal by bringing together diverse voices that speak to one another: the “deaths in Venice” of the title are not merely those constructed by Mann himself or those presented in the well-known adaptations—Benjamin Britten’s opera (1973) and Luchino Visconti’s film (1971)—but also those present in the works of Gustav Mahler, the composer on whose physiognomy Aschenbach’s was based. Mahler’s life, art, and death inform Kitcher’s readings of Mann, which take as their point of departure the serious engagement of both with philosophical problems that they believed not to have been successfully resolved by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

The central and crucial premise of Kitcher’s new reading, the possibility of which he attributes to Visconti (hence defending the Italian director from his harshest critics while at the same time not seeking to veil the weaknesses of the film) lies in the possibility that Aschenbach does not die of cholera—that he in fact does not die a tragic, sordid death—but rather that his death is the culmination of a highly worthy life cut short by a frailty whose seed had accompanied the esteemed writer since his birth. Kitcher follows this path to move away from the particular and the historical toward the universal, rejecting what he calls “the sexual reading” of Aschenbach, not, to be sure, in a prudish or homophobic fashion. Kitcher neither denies the sexual nature of Aschenbach’s attraction to Tadzio (e.g., by interpreting it strictly figuratively) nor downplays the suffering of Aschenbach’s and Mann’s contemporaries who shared their attraction to individuals of the same sex.

Rather, for Kitcher, the sexual interpretation is simply insufficient, because it views art and ideas as mere masks for the libido, denies that the sexual impulse is also shaped by culture, and proclaims Aschenbach as “thoroughly self-deceived” (94), rather than only partially (and perhaps necessarily?) self-deceived, as Kitcher claims. Kitcher is the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia; not surprisingly, his strategy aims at elevating Mann’s novella to the status of a philosophical text; he argues that Death in Venice, and indeed the other sources, both musical and cinematic, that he examines, represent the highest degree of philosophical engagement, [End Page 192] because their creators develop their own answers to philosophical questions rather than simply being derivative of allegedly more serious philosophical writings. He argues for the distinct role of literature, film, and music as “philosophy by showing,” which is necessary as an imaginative counterweight to academic philosophy’s abstractions. Many readers will find themselves retracing familiar ground at certain points, only to find themselves suddenly in very new surroundings.

This study is profoundly interdisciplinary, arguing for a “broader view of the activity of philosophizing,” (15) situating it not merely in cognitive work, but in the emotional and the psychological realm as well. Kitcher lauds the unique contribution of the arts to philosophical thinking, asserting a general claim that he demonstrates in insightful and persuasive readings that show how Mann and Mahler counter Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s answers to the problem of human finitude. Kitcher pushes the boundary between criticism, literature, and philosophy, even proposing a hypothetical variation of Visconti’s film with a coda accompanied no longer by the Adagietto of Mahler’s 5th Symphony but by the Abschied from Das Lied der Erde. While Kitcher argues that in Mann’s novella “the philosophical landscape is importantly—and ambiguously—transformed,” (47) he himself also participates in the metamorphosis by creating his own “synthetic complex” that can stand the test of critical self-reflection. Kitcher gives us a language that argues for the value of the humanities, for the worth of reading literature, listening to music, and specifically for continuing to attend to masterpieces of German culture in the twenty-first century.

The reader should not expect to find a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of Mann’s novella, but this is precisely the value in this unique book: it models for us an ongoing, creative process of intertextual and interdisciplinary reading that seeks to reconnect literature and the arts with the experience of everyday citizens. Kitcher insists that, in spite of Aschenbach’s superficial separation from his readers, Death in Venice demonstrates the possibility of “the joint embodiment of artist and citizen” (68) and hence offers a complex revision of the opposition between the two espoused in Tonio Kröger. The reconciliation of elite artist and everyday citizen is a lofty aim that runs counter to the deepening chasm between the professional needs and interests of scholars in the humanities and fine arts and the incomprehension or outright suspicion of the public regarding the value of these fields. Given the hegemony of discourses of utility and profitability in current discussions of higher education, Kitcher’s intervention is highly valuable not only for its specific discussions of Mann, Mahler, and others, but also for its successful connection of these unique artists to contemporary debates about the value of taking serious literature and music seriously.

[End Page 193] Gary Schmidt Death in Venice Homework Help - eNotes.com Death in Venice Homework Help We’ve answered 319,193 questions. We can answer yours, too. In exploring Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and Tonio Kroger as they relate to the innermost feelings that exist in the psyche, the reader of these particular novels written by Thomas Mann... Asked by booklover9977 on June 9, 2015 at 3:13 AM via web 1 educator answer. Death in Venice Part of what creates a plot structure in novels is that things ordinarily happen for reasons, outside of a limited number of genres such as the absurdist novel, surrealism, and certain types of... Asked by ansershah on April 15, 2015 at 6:38 PM via web 1 educator answer. Death in Venice (a) Throughout the novella Death in Venice there are polarized dualities, one of which is that of culture. Whereas Gustav von Aschenbach has exhibited Germanic control, discipline, and intellect,...

Asked by garhamp on July 25, 2014 at 11:35 PM via web In Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Gustav von Aschenbach's downfall is the direct result of his inability to keep his sexuality repressed. Initially, Aschenbach is able to repress his sexual... Asked by Mizdee on May 29, 2012 at 5:39 PM via web One could constitute Aschenbach's death as both self-inflicted and uncontrollable. One could justify that Aschenbach's death was self-inflicted. Given that he makes the choice to stay in the... Asked by Mizdee on May 29, 2012 at 5:37 PM via web Firt, let us dispose with the Manichean fallacy: he died of a heart attack or some physical cause -- after all, he vacationed in the south of Italy for his health (note: Mann often used the... Asked by chauncyphillips on February 18, 2012 at 4:31 AM via web 1 educator answer.

Death in Venice I think it is quite self-evident if you read the text carefully that the passion that von Aschenbach has for the Polish boy Tadzio is based on lust rather than love. Clearly the feelings that von... Asked by soman2006 on February 14, 2011 at 9:15 AM via web Death in Venice Summary | GradeSaver Death in Venice Summary Buy Study Guide Von Aschenbach, born in Silesia to a civil servant and his Bohemian blooded wife, is a well-known writer. He was married for a short time before his wife died and now lives alone in Munich. After an unsatisfactory morning of work, he sets out on a walk and notices a strange looking tourist in a cemetery. Suddenly, von Aschenbach has a desire to travel. He briefly considers following the tourist, but instead takes the tram home. Von Aschenbach lives an extremely ascetic life, dashing cold water on himself in the morning so that he can wake up and work on his writing. He has no close personal relationships. As a young boy, he was sickly, and has thus lived most of his life in this type of solitude.

His literary work has brought him great fame. Usually, he portrays the stories of stoic heroes who appear noble, but are degenerate on the inside. Two weeks after spotting the strange tourist in Munich, von Aschenbach embarks on a trip. He orders that his house in the German countryside be readied for his return in one month's time. He takes a train to Trieste, then boards a boat to a resort on an island in the Adriatic. Although he enjoys the trip, he is not completely satisfied, and decides to move on to Venice. On the boat, he meets an older man wearing makeup and rouge in an attempt to appear younger and socialize with a group of younger men. Von Aschenbach is disgusted by the man in makeup. When he arrives in Venice, von Aschenbach gets a free gondola ride because the gondolier is unlicensed and shoves off the pier before von Aschenbach has the chance to pay him. At dinner at the hotel that night, von Aschenbach notices a Polish family of three girls and a beautiful boy of about fourteen, accompanied by a governess . The writer is struck by the boy's beauty.

The next morning, he watches the boy, Tadzio , play with a friend on the beach, and then returns to his hotel room to inspect his own wrinkled face and gray hair. Von Aschenbach goes to Venice that afternoon and the oppressive humidity causes him to suffers a feverish attack. With ambivalence, von Aschenbach decides to leave Venice permanently, and tries to catch a train the next day. Unfortunately, his luggage is mislaid. He returns to the hotel, and feels joyful because while staying near Venice he can watch Tadzio, a truth that causes him slight discomfort. When von Aschenbach's luggage is returned two days later, he unpacks and resolves to stay. Von Aschenbach quickly falls into a routine of watching Tadzio and using his inspiration to write. Walking behind him on the beach one morning, von Aschenbach almost overtakes him and tries to speak to him, but restrains himself. One evening, he runs into Tadzio unexpectedly and cannot control his surprised and excited facial expressions. Tadzio smiles back, aware of his own attractiveness.

Von Aschenbach hurries away, and later whispers "I love you," a phrase obviously meant for the boy but only spoken after Tadzio has left. During his fourth week at the hotel near Venice, von Aschenbach notices that many of the other guests are leaving. He hears rumors of a disease sweeping the city and tries to obtain concrete information about the outbreak. Von Aschenbach realizes that there is a fairly serious problem, but resolves not to leave. Anyone he asks reassures him that the smell of germicide in the city is merely evidence of the police being overly cautious. Von Aschenbach begins to follows Tadzio more actively, tailing the Polish family in Venice and watching the boy at a street musician concert in the hotel garden. Von Aschenbach begins to alter his appearance to look younger. He adds colorful touches to his clothing, dyes and curls his hair, and wears rouge. All of these actions are behaviors he found despicable when he observed them in a fellow traveler earlier in the novel Although Tadzio realizes von Aschenbach is following him, he does not tell his family.

In analyzing his relationship with Tadzio, Von Aschenbach imagines himself as Socrates and Tadzio as Phaedrus, thus fantasizing a relationship that mirrors the Greek Platonic ideal. In a half-awake dream, von Aschenberg predicts he will soon die, and that Tadzio, whom the writer assumes is at the resort because he is sickly, will die soon thereafter. Von Aschenbach witnesses a few of Tadzio's friends roughing him up on the beach. Tadzio walks away and looks back at von Aschenbach, knowing that he is watching. When von Aschenberg finally dies, most likely from cholera, the world is stunned to hear of the death of such a famous man. The character of Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes The Red-Haired Man The main character of the novella, Aschenbach is a successful, celebrated German writer who lives in Munich. An old man, he has lived an austere, disciplined life dedicated to his writing.

He rarely indulges in any leisure or pleasure, and is a highly repressed individual, denying most desires in order to dedicate himself fully to his work. The sight of the red-haired man, however, awakens a latent desire in him to travel, and he ends up taking a vacation in Venice. There, he undergoes a rapid transformation, as he confronts the repressed side of his personality and his inner desires. He becomes obsessed with the young boy Tadzio, first as a kind of work of art—a perfect example of youthful beauty—and then as an object of his erotic affections. Aschenbach becomes increasingly intoxicated with the licentious atmosphere of Venice and dies a very different man from who he was in Munich, ignoring his work in order to pursue his desire for Tadzio, whose youth and beauty he idolizes at the expense of everything else. Gustav von Aschenbach Quotes in Death in Venice The Death in Venice quotes below are all either spoken by Gustav von Aschenbach or refer to Gustav von Aschenbach. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ).

Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Dover Publications edition of Death in Venice published in 1995. Chapter 1 Quotes Overstrained by the difficult and dangerous labor of the morning hours, which precisely at this moment called for extreme circumspection, discretion, forcefulness and exactitude of the will, even after the noon meal the writer had been unable to restrain the continued operation of the productive machinery within him—that motus animi continuus in which, according to Cicero, the nature of eloquence consists—and had not found the relieving slumber that, with the increasing tendency of his strength to wear out, was so necessary to him once in the course of the day. And so, soon after tea, he had sought the outdoors, in hopes that the fresh air and activity would restore him and help him have a profitable evening. Related Characters: Gustav von Aschenbach Related Themes: Download it! Gustav von Aschenbach Character Timeline in Death in Venice The timeline below shows where the character Gustav von Aschenbach appears in Death in Venice. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Chapter 1 On an afternoon in May, in an unspecified year early in the 1900s, Gustav von Aschenbach, a well-regarded writer in Germany, went for a walk in Munich. He had spent the... (full context) It was unseasonably warm outside and after Aschenbach had walked for a while, he saw that a storm was approaching. He waited for... (full context) ...to be foreign and “peered sharply and searchingly into the distance with colorless, red-lashed eyes.” Aschenbach couldn’t help but stare and soon found that the stranger was looking right back at... (full context) ...It was like “a real seizure,” or “a delusion of the senses.” In his mind, Aschenbach imagined a lush tropical landscape with “lusty fern clusters,” and exotic plants and animals. Finally,... (full context) Up until this point, Aschenbach had never “been tempted to leave Europe,” because of his desire to work at writing... (full context) Aschenbach did not want to waste time vacationing when he was working on “the book he...

(full context) After much internal debate, Aschenbach finally concluded that he needed some travel, “an exotic atmosphere.” He decided to spend “a... (full context) Chapter 2 Aschenbach had achieved fame and notoriety as a novelist, short story writer, and critic. His father’s... (full context) Aschenbach had always been “bent on fame,” and established a successful literary career early in his... (full context) Aschenbach grew up without any real friends, and always hoped to live a productive life. He... (full context) ...reason why people “confer fame on a work of art.” In one of his works, Aschenbach had written that everything is “brought to completion despite distress and torment, poverty, abandonment, physical... (full context) An analyst wrote of Aschenbach that he often wrote of a hero that stood in for “an intellectual and youthful... (full context) Aschenbach had captured “passionate, absolutistic” youth in his early works, which questioned the nature of art... (full context) Aschenbach was short and dark-haired. His furrowed brow and face showed signs of wear not from...

(full context) Chapter 3 About two weeks after his walk in Munich, Aschenbach took a trip to an island in the Adriatic. It had “beautifully eroded cliff scenery,”... (full context) Aschenbach boarded an old Italian ship bound for Venice. An old sailor welcomed him aboard and... (full context) The old man was wearing makeup, a wig, and dentures. Aschenbach regarded this old man with horror, and felt slightly like he was in a dream.... (full context) Aschenbach gazed into the distance and at last the coastline of Venice began to emerge. All... (full context) While preparing to board a gondola, Aschenbach was forced to stand around next to the strange old man, who was blabbering on... (full context) Aschenbach felt calm and at ease in the gondola. He was troubled, though, when he noticed... (full context) Aschenbach arrived at his hotel and went to the front desk to get some change in... (full context) The narrator reflects on solitude, which can produce both originality and perverseness. The solitary Aschenbach walked along the seaside promenade and then came back to the hotel. In the lounge,...

(full context) ...most of the hotel guests went to eat, but the Polish family kept waiting, and Aschenbach waited as well, sitting in a chair and watching them. The Polish children’s mother arrived,... (full context) ...dinner, and as the young boy was leaving, he stopped and turned around, briefly meeting Aschenbach’s gaze. Aschenbach went to go eat dinner, slightly disappointed not to be sitting near the... (full context) Aschenbach remembered when he had experienced similar weather in Venice once before and had to leave... (full context) Aschenbach was stunned by the boy’s “godlike beauty,” evident in his appearance and graceful walk. He... (full context) After breakfast, Aschenbach went to the beach and enjoyed watching people having fun in the water. He started... (full context) Aschenbach was delighted to see this, as for him it made the godlike boy more human.... (full context) Aschenbach watched the boy play with some other children, especially another Polish boy who appeared to... (full context) Aschenbach read on the beach, but was constantly thinking of Tadzio, who was lying on the...

(full context) Around noon, Aschenbach went back to his room and looked at his gray hair and wrinkled face in... (full context) In the afternoon, Aschenbach went for a walk around the city of Venice. The air was thick and unpleasant,... (full context) The next morning, the air was a little better, and Aschenbach wondered if he had decided to leave Venice too quickly. He had breakfast, and a... (full context) Just as he was leaving, Aschenbach saw Tadzio, and he left the hotel full of regret. As Aschenbach went through Venice,... (full context) Aschenbach happily returned to his hotel and was given a new room there. He spent most... (full context) Chapter 4 ...the sky and noting how plants in the park at evening “emitted a balmy fragrance.” Aschenbach decided to stay in Venice even after his luggage was returned to him. He had... (full context) Aschenbach had never been able to stay away from work for very long and never indulged... (full context) Every morning, Aschenbach got up early and was the first person on the beach, where he sat as...

(full context) Aschenbach admired everything about Tadzio’s behavior and appearance, including his “honey-colored hair.” He thought of the... (full context) Aschenbach felt that gazing at Tadzio was like looking at beauty itself. Thinking of Plato’s Phaedrus... (full context) Aschenbach felt intoxicated by the sun and ocean and had a delirious vision. In the vision,... (full context) Aschenbach felt a sudden urge to write, and felt compelled to write about “a certain important,... (full context) Aschenbach saw Tadzio the next morning and decided to say hello and introduce himself in a... (full context) Aschenbach planned to stay in Venice indefinitely, and put all the energy and focus he used... (full context) The days were “mythically transformed” for Aschenbach, who saw the waves crashing on the beach as Poseidon’s “steeds dash[ing] forward.” He compared... (full context) ...would occasionally walk to his family by a route that meant he passed right by Aschenbach, and Aschenbach took this as a sign that “his friendly feelings and attention were not...

(full context) One evening, Aschenbach saw Tadzio and his family returning from dinner in the city, and marveled at how... (full context) Chapter 5 In the fourth week of his stay in Venice, Aschenbach noticed that the number of guests at the hotel seemed to be decreasing. His barber... (full context) Aschenbach looked in some newspapers and found rumors of a possible illness spreading in Venice, but... (full context) Tadzio and his family got into a gondola, and Aschenbach followed them at a distance in another one. He rode through the city, “half fairy... (full context) There were some moments when Aschenbach came to his senses. He wondered what his ancestors, with their “dignified severity” would think... (full context) Aschenbach thus defended his behavior to himself. He was very interested in the news of a... (full context) One night, a group of street performers came to the hotel. Aschenbach watched the vulgar performance, “because passion deadens one’s taste,” but was mostly focused on Tadzio,...

(full context) ...gestures, and “licking the corners of his mouth licentiously,” the song became “salacious” and vulgar. Aschenbach watched the guitarist curiously, whom he noticed smelled like the germicide in the city air.... (full context) When the guitarist got to Aschenbach, Aschenbach asked him why Venice was being disinfected. The guitarist said it was merely a... (full context) ...laughed hysterically. The laughter was contagious and soon the entire audience was laughing, as well. Aschenbach got up, as if to run away from the contagious laughter, but found he was... (full context) Aschenbach stayed and sat where he was for a while after the performance was over. He... (full context) ...in Venice had led to an increase in crime on the streets. The Englishman told Aschenbach that he should leave Venice immediately for his own safety. Aschenbach thought of perhaps warning... (full context) That night, Aschenbach had an intense dream, which he felt “totally destroyed and annihilated” his existence and “lifetime’s...

(full context) When Aschenbach awoke, he was fully devoted to his desire for Tadzio and had no more shame.... (full context) Aschenbach went to the hotel barber and dyed his gray hair. He put on all sorts... (full context) Aschenbach sat in a city square and looked at the buildings around him, as “hot gusts... (full context) A few days later, Aschenbach was feeling ill. He learned from a hotel employee that Tadzio’s family was leaving after... (full context) Aschenbach watched Tadzio wade into the sea. Tadzio looked back, and Aschenbach thought he saw Tadzio... (full context) Cite This Page Choose citation style: Fredericksen, Erik. "Death in Venice Characters: Gustav von Aschenbach." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 19 Mar 2014. Web. 17 Jan 2017. Fredericksen, Erik. "Death in Venice Characters: Gustav von Aschenbach." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 19 Mar 2014. Web. 17 Jan 2017.

Fredericksen, Erik. "Death in Venice Characters: Gustav von Aschenbach." LitCharts LLC, March 19, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2017. Fredericksen, Erik. "Death in Venice Characters: Gustav von Aschenbach." LitCharts LLC, March 19, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2017. Copy to Clipboard Influences On Manns Death In Venice English Literature Essay Influences On Manns Death In Venice English Literature Essay Published: Last Edited: 23rd March, 2015 This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. Thomas Manns Death in Venice is a literary work of fiction that both embodies elements of German literature and arts of the nineteenth century and is influenced by composers Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner as well as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was written in 1912, just before the First World War. As such, it was influenced mainly by important contributors to German arts and literature in the nineteenth century.

Elements such as the leitmotif, the dual nature of the artist as a mix of Apollonian and Dionysian elements, nihilism, the love-death theme, and decadence appear in Death in Venice. Many of these elements were signature philosophies and styles that appeared in the works of Mahler, Nietzsche, and Wagner. Friedrich Nietzsche is a nineteenth century German philosopher that wrote on subjects that included religion, morality, the nature of man, and the universe. Philosophies that influenced Death in Venice include decadence, the death of God, nihilism, and the dual-nature of the artist. Nietzsche's philosophy was controversial due to its blasphemous nature and criticisms on Christianity. After his death, Nietzsche's works became better known among readers and have acquired numerous responses and critiques as a result (. His philosophies would have a hidden presence in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice through the protagonist, Gustav von Aschenbach. Decadence is commonly defined as the decline of a person or thing due to the decline of moral standards(citation). In literature, decadence is often seen in the main or auxiliary character in which he or she goes through a steady decline in moral standards, engaging in increasingly immoral and socially unacceptable behavior.

Often, the character holds a high moral standard for himself or herself, but ends up decaying under a given situation that tests the character's moral strength. In Death in Venice, Gustav von Aschenbach goes through a serious case of moral decline upon falling in love with a boy during Aschenbach's vacation to Venice. Aschenbach is well regarded for his discipline and adherence to his firm personal morality. Aschenbach's motto, ââ‚¬Å“stay the courseââ‚¬Â, was an indicator of the disciplined life Aschenbach led throughout his career (Mann 1560). However, this strict adherence to a firm personal morality and a lack of inspiration causes Aschenbach to become dull and uninspired. To alleviate this, Aschenbach takes a vacation to Venice, which notably was also a city that was in decay at the time. Aschenbach engages in decadence upon falling in love with a boy named Tadzio, whom he considers to be a person of great beauty. Aschenbach follows the boy, observes the boy at every possible chance, makes a personal declaration of love, and stays during a cholera epidemic as a result of this decadence.

This moral decline resulted in his increasingly irrational behavior that would indirectly be the cause of his death. The death of God and nihilism were two other beliefs that Nietzsche held throughout his life that make a more subtle appearance in Death in Venice. These beliefs were controversial in nature as both view God as either nonexistent or dead (Nietzsche 759). The death of God states that God is no longer a source of moral principles due to the fact that the secularization of European society had essentially killed God(Nietzsche 472). Nihilism is the belief that there is essentially nothing in the universe; that values have a lack of foundation as nothing is right or wrong, and that life has no value or purpose (Nietzsche 418). The death of God is seen in Death in Venice through the setting of the story and the given description of Gustav von Aschenbach and European society at the time. There is no emphasis on God in the morals that Gustav has adopted nor is there any mention of God's influence during Aschenbach's time. Nihilism is also present, mainly through the actions Gustav does in order to pursue Tadzio.

No single character or passage in the story defines Aschenbach's actions as right or wrong. The dual-nature of the artist is a topic and philosophy discussed in Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. It notes that life was a struggle between the Apollonian and Dionysian virtues. Apollo is seen as the god of music, healing, truth, and prophecy (Hard 642). Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, is the god of grapes, wine, winemaking, and consequently religious decadence and spiritual ecstasy (Hard 529). If one were to prevail, the other would have been defeated in the struggle(Nietzsche 788). Nietzsche states that the tragedies of Ancient Greece were the greatest forms of art because the tragedies embodied elements of both the Apollonian and Dionysian elements(Nietzsche 816). Essentially, Apollonian virtues embodied discipline and the revelation of truth and prophecy while Dionysian virtues embodied the uninhibited nature of rowdiness and becoming spiritually aware (usually through euphoria) (Hard 533).

Gustav von Aschenbach is seen as an Apollonian figure as he is a highly disciplined man who has become well known for his works that studied human nature, the formation of new ideas, and downsides to extreme characteristics such as possessing too much knowledge. Gustav's Apollonian nature clashes with the Dionysian nature when he decides to indulge in the beauty of the boy he loves, Tadzio. The Apollonian and Dionysian natures clash, but as Nietzsche's belief stated, one nature prevailed while the other was defeated. In this case, the Dionysian nature prevailed despite the fact that Aschenbach is a Apollonian figure that has lived by Apollonian virtues for most of his life. Richard Wagner is the second person who has influenced Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. His influences are reflected in the plotline and main character of the story. Wagner was a nineteenth century German composer, conductor, and writer most well known for his operas. Wagner was known to use leitmotifs in his works and is the composer that is commonly associated with leitmotifs (May 72). He also became well known for using the love-death theme in Tristan and Isolde.

Another opera written and composed by Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), features the tragic/flawed hero (May 117). These elements of Wagner influenced Mann's Death in Venice in that they are present in both the plot and the protagonist and are the main driving forces of the events of the story. A leitmotif is a recurring musical term that is associated with a theme, person, place, idea, or event (May 70). It is also commonly defined as a recurring theme in literature and music. Wagner did not invent the leitmotif but his constant use of them in his operas led to his association with leitmotifs. The leitmotif is present in Death in Venice in the form of a symbolic and multidimensional color, red. Red symbolizes love and passion but at the same time, red is associated with sin, demons, blood, and death. This very nature of the color red is identical to the nature of Aschenbach's love of Tadzio and pursuit of that very love. Aschenbach has never experienced love and such strong passion towards on a single thing, in this case a person.

Upon experiencing the love, Aschenbach engages in decadence that results in his over-indulgence of Tadzio's beauty that eventually results in Gustav von Aschenbach's death. The color red is mentioned throughout the love ordeal through the foods that Gustav eats and the occasional red haired character that he meets. The red haired characters that Aschenbach meets insinuate that his death will occur soon. The foods that he eats during his pursuit of Tadzio are all red which symbolizes love and passion. One of these foods is a pomegranate, a fruit that symbolizes Persephone and the underworld. It also happens that the strawberries Aschenbach eats before his death were one of the potential foods that people weer advised not to eat due to the fact that they could be contaminated with cholera. In the culminating events of the story, Gustav von Aschenbach died of a fever caused by cholera. The love-death theme is another element that has been integrated with the story of Death in Venice. Wagner used this theme in his opera Tristan and Isolde. The love-death theme features a passion which faces obstacles that cannot be overcome and is ultimately ended by death (May 168).

The passion and desire Gustav von Aschenbach has for Tadzio is the example from Death in Venice that shows this theme. Gustav's love for Tadzio cannot be returned as the boy is young and naÃÂ¯ve, and is not apt to fall in love with another person, especially one of the same gender as he. There is also a permanent socialization barrier that stands between Aschenbach and Tadzio. They are unable to talk with each other as they are complete strangers and Tadzio's family will not will such a thing, and that both characters can only exchange glances as they pass by each other. This one-sided passion culminates with the Aschenbach succumbing to a fever caused by cholera. The flawed hero is Wagner's third major influence on Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. The flawed hero appears in Wagner's opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The flawed hero is a person of noble birth who suffers an unfortunate destiny due to a single and fatal flaw (May 141).

Aschenbach was not a person of noble birth, but his literary achievements had earned him the honorable rank of a noble, hence his last name officially being von Aschenbach. Gustav had one flaw, and that was the imbalance in his life of which he did not indulge in youth's idleness and the enjoyment of relaxation. Because of this trait, Aschenbach becomes dreary and takes a vacation in Venice. He falls in love with Tadzio and those events set the events that cause Aschenbach to desperately pursue the person of his affections and eventually results in the death of Gustav von Aschenbach. Mahler is the final person that has had a major influence on Mann's Death in Venice. His influence stems from his style of music that he had composed. Mahler stated that "The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything." (Floros 29) Just as he stated, Mahler found inspiration for his songs and symphonies from his environment and personal experiences. These included the songs of birds and nature, street melodies and fanfare of his childhood and place of residence, suffering and despair, the desire to satisfy one's self, and distortion (Floros 43).

The balanced lifestyle of embracing all was the lifestyle that Mahler had lived and was the lifestyle Gustav von Aschenbach failed to achieve. Gustav von Aschenbach is Death in Venice's example of a character that leads an imbalanced life and the consequences of living such a life. Aschenbach lived a life that was devoid of the occasional self-indulgence. This void caused him to become unhappy with his circumstances. Upon taking a vacation in Venice, Aschenbach becomes obsessed and falls in love with a boy he sees, Tadzio. This quest and desire to indulge in the beauty of Tadzio and the relentless pursuit of his love was a way for Aschenbach to engage in the self-indulgence of which he had restrained himself from for the majority of his life. This imbalance in Aschenbach's life was part of the reason why he had made such an effort to gain the love of Tadzio. Many works of literature tend to be influenced by the dominant culture of the time and the important individuals who influenced that era in history.

Death in Venice, written in the first years of the twentieth century, reflects the German culture of the nineteenth century and the influences that Mahler, Wagner, and Nietzsche all had on the German and European culture of the nineteenth century and writers of that era. Each of these three influential figures had some sort of hidden prescence in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice which included: Wagner's use of leitmotifs, love-death theme, and the flawed hero; Mahler's lifestyle and use of everything around him as inspiration for his works; to Nietzsche's philosophies on God, human nature, and morality. What is the relationship between Aschenbach and Tadzio in "Death in Venice"? | eNotes What is the relationship between Aschenbach and Tadzio in "Death in Venice"? kwoo1213 | College Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Posted on March 30, 2008 at 10:40 AM Aschenbach is a writer who comes across Tadzio and his family while in Venice. He becomes obsessed with this young teenage boy who is beautiful, much like a Greek god in many ways.

Tadzio and Aschenbach exchange many glances over the course of their time in Venice at the same resort; however, they do not exchange words. Aschenbach follows him until it becomes stalking, really. His thoughts are consumed with Tadzio. In many ways, Tadzio is much of a muse figure. Aschenbach, though, is clearly sexually attracted to Tadzio and even whispers that he loves him at one point. The attraction is disturbing and fascinating to read about at the same time because the reader wants to find out what becomes of Aschenbach. He, of course, ends up dying on the beach while watching Tadzio draw a figure upon the sand near the water. like 2 dislike 0

Question: In literature, where did Gustav von Aschenbach die?
Answer: Venice